Chelsea ready to make amends for poor last season says Marcos Alonso

Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso says he and his team-mates are ready to make amends for a poor last season at Stamford Bridge.

Despite winning the FA Cup, the Blues finished fifth in the Premier League, meaning they will miss out on Champions League football next term for the second time in only three seasons.

The campaign was also shrouded by a number of high profile fall-outs between manager Antonio Conte and owner Roman Abramovich, with the Italian seemingly blaming the Russian for failing to provide him with the financial backing the make the club the success – despite having won the Premier League with mostly the same squad only the season before.

Conte’s future at Stamford Bridge remains up in the air, however Alonso – whop enjoyed a fine personal season last year – says he and the team remain focused solely on taking Chelsea back to the top.

“Now we want to get back to the top level in the league after a not very good year, and pre-season is an important stage of that,” he told the club website.

The Blues kick-off their pre-season with a tour of Australia later this month, where they will take on Perth Glory, before returning to Europe for fixtures against Inter Milan and Arsenal.